Not all life coaches are created equal.

What does a professional life coach look like? At the end of the day almost anyone can call themselves a life coach, but there is a significant difference between a life coach that will help you complete your goals and one that will not. It is recommended that anyone interested in looking for a life coach find one that has been certified by the International Coach Federation (IFC). This certification is a benchmark for the coaching industry. This is especially important because life coaching has been such a growing industry as of late, according to the Harvard Business Review life coaching is now over a $1 billion a year industry.

Many might think that personal coaching might take too much time. But what isn't realized by those who think this is that clients can achieve remarkable successes in less than an hour per month. There are many different forms in which coaching is delivered and different forms have different schedules. Occasionally coaches will meet one on one with clients at lunches or in the home. Usually the coach will be flexible to your schedule and bend to meet your needs.

What is important once you find a life coach is to realize the type of relationships you should have with them. Ideally a life coach should be friendly but they will hold you accountable to your own actions. Think of them as a really friendly drill sergeant, a person that can be personal with you and friendly when you achieve a success but harsh and hard on you when you both know you haven't grown when you were suppose to.